"STRUCTURAL reform" is needed to combat climate change and bring down energy bills, campaigners have said as one of the North Sea's largest oil and gas firms revealed profits of more than £12 billion in the first half of 2026.
Shell has revealed a better-than-expected 70% surge in first-half earnings despite “severe disruption” in oil and gas markets amid the Iran war.
The FTSE 100 oil giant saw earnings jump to $16.75bn (£12.55bn) after notching up a forecast-beating haul of $9.84bn (£7.37 bn) in the three months to the end of June as its oil traders were able to exploit the war in Iran for excessive profits stemming from the highly volatile cost of crude while the Strait of Hormuz remains too dangerous to trade through.
Alongside the war, which has led to the deaths of more than 3400 people, the earnings announcement comes amid a backdrop of wildfires across Europe, including in the Cairngorms, France and Spain.
"The world is literally on fire and Shell wants to add more fuel," Robert Palmer, the deputy director of North Sea transition campaign group Uplift said.
"As families and firefighters across Europe battle devastating wildfires, Shell is cashing in on Trump’s war and doubling down on oil and gas.
“This is now maniacal behaviour from a company that is putting its profits ahead of the health of our planet, and the lives and livelihoods of all of us.
"Governments urgently need to step up, listen to the scientists' warnings, and stop Shell and others from driving us off a cliff. For all our sakes, Andy Burnham’s government must stand up to Shell and stop the Rosebank oil field.”
Burnham has refused to set out his government's plans for the two controversial oil platforms Jackdaw and Rosebank, which await a final decision from his Energy Secretary on whether or not they can start drilling.
It was reported earlier this month that the new Prime Minister is planning to approve the licences, despite warnings from leading climate scientists and campaign groups, and it going against his party's 2024 manifesto.
Speaking in the White House on Wednesday, US president Donald Trump, who has voiced his support for more drilling in the North Sea, claimed Burnham has told him that he will "open up" the sea for more drilling.
This decision, joined with Shell's profits, has been met with widespread criticism, being slammed as "obscene" by Zack Polanski.
The leader of the Green Party of England and Wales commented, saying: "Whilst the cost of living crisis continues to spiral, with food and fuel prices soaring, so do global oil and gas companies profit.
"Shell has today announced its profits have more than doubled.
"This is obscene."
While the cost of living crisis continues to spiral, with food and fuel prices soaring, so do global oil and gas companies profits. Shell has today announced it's profits have more than doubled. This is obscene. https://t.co/XMZiIFxpX6
— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) July 30, 2026
Lang Banks, director at the World Wildlife Fund Scotland added: “Shell’s huge profits are a stark reminder of the injustice at the heart of the climate crisis: as wildfires burn and communities suffer in Scotland and across Europe, fossil fuel giants are cashing in.
"As we all count the cost of the damage climate change is already causing, governments should be thinking twice about caving to demands to allow more oil and gas drilling.
“Instead of driving further climate chaos, we must see greater investment in homegrown renewable technologies to cut emissions, protect nature and support workers and communities through a fair transition to clean energy.”
The End Fuel Poverty Alliance added that the profits displayed show that more can be done by the government if it seeks to bring down energy bills.
“Shell makes more profit in a single minute than most people in this country earn in a year. As wildfires rage, droughts are declared and temperatures climb, the very fuels heating the planet are also heating company profits, while households pay the price on their bills," said coordinator Simon Francis.
“This is even harder to stomach knowing that via Shell’s new North Sea joint venture with Equinor, it is structuring its operations to reduce the tax it pays in Britain. Long-term energy security cannot rely on a declining North Sea, where firms have already extracted 90% of commercially viable gas while posting billions in profits.
"The drill more, bill more approach simply locks households into another cycle of gas price shocks.
“Ministers should ensure the Energy Profits Levy does its job and use the proceeds to fund energy debt relief and a permanent social tariff.
"What’s more we need structural reform to break the link between electricity prices and volatile gas markets so that homegrown clean power brings bills down for the people who need help most.”
